The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

Zhang had a blank expression on her face the whole time. Nanny Chang stepped forward and raised her voice, "Ms. Liu, your words and actions are rude. You concealed and distorted the facts in your words. Drag her away and give her ten slaps on the hands!" Ah, Liu looked up at Zhang in disbelief, "Madam..." Before she could finish her words, the old woman covered her mouth and dragged her out. Liu was pressed on a bench in the corridor, and a strong woman took out a black wooden board about the length of an adult's arm and an inch thick, and ten "pa pa pa" sounds were heard.

Liu was dragged back trembling and knelt obediently on the side.

"Madam," Cai He said excitedly, "Today, when I went to the kitchen to ask for soup, Sister Liu sat by the stove and said there was none. I saw the fire was burning brightly, so I wanted to lift the lid to take a look. But Sister Liu slapped my hand away and made sarcastic remarks, even..." Cai He wiped the tears from her eyes, "I was so angry that I scolded her a few times, and Sister Liu was about to hit me. At that moment, I happened to see a basket of charcoal at her feet, and I was so angry that I threw the charcoal at her." After that, she kowtowed again, "I know I was wrong, and I hope Madam will understand."

Zhang put down the teacup heavily. "You have been with me for many years, and I didn't know you had this ability."

Nanny Chang walked up to Cai He and said, "While what you said is true, you still made mistakes. First, you took the initiative to fight with others. Second, you acted impulsively and smashed the small kitchen. As a fine, you will be punished by ten strokes of the hand. You will have to repair the small kitchen and make up for the damage. In addition, you will be fined three months' salary."

Cai He kowtowed with tears in her eyes, "Thank you, Madam."

"And you, Liu." Nanny Chang turned aside. Liu was gloating over Caihe's punishment, but suddenly she shuddered at the sound of her own name. She quickly knelt down and said, "Yes, Nanny."

Nanny Chang smiled and clapped her hands.

Jin He led two maids in, carrying a box and placing it on the open space in the middle. Some of the maids watching had already recognized that it was Mrs. Liu's box.

Liu, who was kneeling on the ground, had a very ugly expression on her face, but she quickly calmed down.

Nanny Chang pointed at the box and asked Liu, "Do you recognize this box?"

Liu continued to be stubborn. "I don't know why Madam brought my trunk over here. These two things are completely unrelated. Even when I was serving the Madam, I never saw anything like this."

Zhang said meaningfully, "You still remember that it was the eldest lady you served before. This kind of thought is really rare." Liu was quite pleased with herself.

After opening the boxes, the maids took out several packages of things and put them on the ground. They were actually several packages of precious ingredients, including a package of white fungus.

"Oh," Liu cried, "I left it here." She slapped her cheeks with her good hands and said, "It's all my fault that I'm old and don't remember where to put things."

Nanny Chang sneered, "Now I have to admire Sister Liu. It's just a pity that yesterday the prefect of the capital sealed off a shop that was reselling goods from noble families. Among them was the fact that a father and son surnamed Li from a village west of the city, in collusion with their wife, who worked for a wealthy family, stole and sold valuable food ingredients."

Li was the surname of her husband's family, who also lived in the west of the city. Liu was panicking, but she still tried to argue, "What a coincidence! My husband's family are all very honest farmers. I didn't know there were such families in our village."

It's true that she won't cry until she sees the coffin. Nanny Chang took out a silver lock from her bosom and threw it into Liu's arms. "You should recognize this, right?"

Liu clutched the silver locket tremblingly, her face ashen and her body limp. Suddenly, she banged her head frantically on the ground, "Please, Madam, I know I was wrong. Please forgive my family, Madam—" Zhang waved her hand and ordered someone to drag her away. Liu, her forehead bruised and swollen, struggled vigorously, her voice shrill, "Which kitchen helper doesn't steal some food? You rich people leave half of the food and throw the other half away. I'm doing a good deed by taking it home—mmmm." She looked like a madman, and was gagged and dragged away.

Zhang looked at everyone, and everyone within her sight lowered their heads to avoid her. She spoke in a stern voice, "I don't care who you served before, or which room you served in. Now that you are in my west wing, you must abide by its rules. Anyone who cheats, embezzles the master's property, or even takes advantage of the young master's ignorance and uses her as a scapegoat for personal gain will be kicked out. In serious cases, they will be turned over to the authorities and there will be no leniency!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After everyone dispersed, Zhang ordered the gate to the inner courtyard to be closed. She took the obviously nervous Yunjieer into her arms and gently stroked her back with one hand. Lu Yun raised her head and looked at Zhang. "Mother, Yunjieer likes Sister Caihe."

Zhang and Nanny Chang sighed, "She's been through a lot these past few days. Look, outsiders say Sister Yun is stupid, but that's just their fault. Our Third Miss is not stupid at all, she's actually very smart." Then, looking at Sister Yun, they deliberately asked, "Why didn't you plead for your sister Cailian just now? Isn't Sister Yun afraid that I'll kick her out?"

Lu Yun put her chubby face on Zhang's arm and acted coquettishly, "Mother won't do that. Sister Yun likes Sister Caihe." Caihe's eyes were red again.

Zhang smiled and patted her little head, then picked up a letter from the table. "This is from your grandmother to your mother. She told you not to forget your daily exercises—one hour of horse stance and half an hour of physical training."

Lu Yun puffed out her chest and vowed, "Sister Yun has been doing it seriously every day."

Zhang smiled, "Of course she saw it," and then she picked up a round purse. "Your grandmother said in her letter that she'll send you letters from time to time. If you always complete her assignments on time, she'll give you a purse as a reward." She then tied the purse around Yunjie'er's waist. "This is for this time. Keep it safe and don't lose it."

Wow. Lu Yun happily held the purse, jumped up and down, turned and looked at Caihe, "Sister Caihe, Sister Yun is happy." They are rich.

Back in the west wing, under Rong Jie'er's expectant gaze, Lu Yun opened her purse and found five small gold beads inside. One qian each weighed approximately five grams, and ten qian equaled one liang. According to the Qin Dynasty's ten-to-one gold-silver exchange rate, this amounted to five liang of silver. There were also a few small pieces of silver, and Cai He weighed them on a small scale, finding about ten liang.

Lu Yun's eyes curved like crescent moons at the small fortune. Her elder sister had been receiving two taels of silver per month since she was five, and she suddenly had fifteen taels. Seven copper coins could buy a steamed bun, and if she ate seven steamed buns per meal, that would be enough to feed her for 100 days.

Seeing it was just silver, Rong Jie'er looked disappointed. Seeing her sister's joy, she climbed onto the bed and, struggling to pull out a red lacquer and mother-of-pearl box from the bedside drawer, opened it with a click. Pulling out the lower layer, she saw a layer of gold and silver of all kinds, and copper coins on top. "All for you," the eldest sister said generously, pushing the small box forward.

"——" Lu Yun tried hard to control the urge to take the whole box away. She stretched her neck to look again and again, and finally chose her own money. It would give her a greater sense of accomplishment to save money by herself. Lu Yun firmly chose to brainwash and comfort herself.

Rong Jie'er was taken to wash up, and only Lu Yun and her servant were left in the room. Lu Yun took out a piece of silver from her purse and stuffed it into Cai He's arms in front of her astonished eyes. "This is the silver to compensate for the small kitchen." Cai He naturally refused to take it, but Lu Yun said, "I am a lady, you have to listen to me." Cai He shed tears in a daze and responded, "Yes."